


A Spiders Apartment

by AlissaShawWrites



Category: Spider-Man (Video Game 2018)
Genre: Secret Identity Fail
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-13
Updated: 2019-08-13
Packaged: 2020-08-23 05:16:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20237350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlissaShawWrites/pseuds/AlissaShawWrites
Summary: Peters landlord, Mr. muggins was about to begin the eviction process when he realized something about the kids' room was odd.





	A Spiders Apartment

Rent was late again. It always was. After years of being in the property management business, Mr. Muggins had gotten used to it. There was always someone who needed to be evicted; always a new fight that had to be fought with tenants. Sometimes it was hard to remember why it was worth it all. 

But that Parker kid; there was something about him. He wasn’t the usual brand of freeloading lunatic he was used to dealing with. He was humble and kept to himself; never causing a disturbance. In fact, he wasn’t entirely sure Parker was ever home; seeing as his room was always so lifeless. 

Nonetheless; it did not excuse him from paying what's due. That's why; as much as he liked the kid, he was climbing the stairs with trash bags in hand to start the eviction clean up process. 

He knocked a few times to see if anyone was home, but when he was sure that it was empty, he unlocked the door and stepped inside. The room was a mess from top to bottom. As far as he could see, there were no visible signs of the floor or walls through all of the piles of clothing, miscellaneous science experiments, and newspaper clippings strewn about the room. At least it wasn’t another drug den. 

Giving it an easy once-over, he concluded that he was going to need more trash bags. He emptied his arms onto the mess of a bed that certainly indicated some sign of usage and went to get more bags and the new lock he had in stock for evictions like these; when something caught his eye. Amongst the piles of empty take out containers and secondhand college textbooks was a pile of very distinct clothes.

A suit that any New Yorker would recognize on the spot. One that he; himself had come face to face with concerning a few drug busts on his properties. He basically had the vigilante on speed dial. And there it was; or at least one of them, sitting like it was nothing on top of a pile of discarded dirty clothes.

Slowly he picked it up, noting the signature black spider on the chest as well as the not so signature rips and tears. Regardless of its state of repair, it was still Spider-Man's suit. No question about it. 

When he looked around the room, more things began to make sense. Rogue equipment scattered the surfaces that all resembled well-known web gadgets like web bombs whose remains were sometimes left abandoned in the streets after a good fight, notebooks full of information on supervillains and various known Spider-Man allies were tossed about, and sticky notes littered the walls. 

Mr. Muggins dropped the items in his arms to the cluttered floor. What should he do? He couldn't just throw out a superhero, especially one that had helped him personally.

He sat on the bed to think when he heard shuffling behind the door. The door swung open, letting in a lot more light from the hallway, illuminating Parker in the doorway. 

“Mr. Muggins?” his voice quivered. 

"Parker." 

"Listen," he started his frantic spiel. "I know I'm late on rent again, I'm sorry. I'm really sorry but I should get paid soon. Well hopefully because my lab lost funding. I'm not trying to not pay you, I promise." 

Mr. Muggins didn't hear a word. He was still attempting to process that this kid was Spider-Man. "Parker?" 

He looked taken aback by the gentle and obviously not angry tone of his landlords' voice. "Yeah?" 

"Are you Spider-Man?" 

The men sat in almost complete silence for a long time with Peters fidgeting making the only sounds. Then he laughed; he tried very hard to laugh in fact, that it was obviously fake. "That's hilarious. Me? Spider-Man? I wish." 

"Don't lie to me." 

Peter gestured to the room around him. "Just because I collect stuff about him doesn't mean I am him." 

"And the suit in the corner?" 

He looked over to the pile of clothes. "Um." He paled. "Costume! It's just a costume, Mr. Muggins. You think I could be Spider-Man? That's hilarious, really."

"A lot of things start to make sense about you if it's true. You're a weird kid, Parker. There are things about you that I don't understand unless you're Spider-Man." 

"Like what? I'm sure it can easily be explained." 

"I have a camera at every door and I've never once seen you come and go after I gave you the keys." 

"That, um-" 

"Or how about the fact that you always have bruises or broken bones at the same time Spider-Man would." 

"That's just-" 

"And you sound like him." 

"No, I don't!" 

"You have terrible jokes like him too." 

"They're good jokes! And in no way similar to Spider-Man's amazing jokes." 

"Parker I need you to be honest with me. Are you Spider-Man?" 

Slowly, Peter closed the door before he slowly turned back to his landlord. "If I am, you can't tell anyone." 

"So that's a yes then." 

"Yes, I am. And now that you know, you have to promise not to tell anyone! No one can know. Not just for my safety, but for yours. My enemies will do anything to get to me, to learn who I am. If they even think that you might have an idea of who I might be, they will do anything to get to you. Do anything to make you tell. Can I trust you." 

The darkness that glazed Peters eyes as he spoke in the direct and aggressive tone scared Mr. Muggins. He had never heard him speak like that; had never thought him to be capable of it. Peter always had a joyous and loud personality. Always smiling and laughing. How could he expect that kid to do something so terrifying? 

He swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded. "Of course, Parker. I would never rat out New Yorks best vigilante." 

He sighed in relief. "Thank you. You really had me worried for a minute." 

"No need to worry. I'm actually pretty happy that it's true. I knew I liked you, Parker. I knew there was something about you that I could trust and I didn't want to kick you." 

"I am sorry Mr. Muggins. I am. Spidey doesn't leave a lot of time for work or a personal life so money is scarce sometimes." 

"Well, you can stop worrying about rent at the very least." 

Peter frowned, "please don't kick me out. I know I'm a couple of months behind but I can make it up soon. I promise." 

Mr. Muggins chuckled, "I meant that as a way of saying that you don't have to pay it. I'm willing to give the man who stopped many drug deals and murders from happening in my buildings. As long as he keeps doing that." 

"Of course Mr. Muggins! Thank you! I would hug you but I don't want to ruin this." 

"No hug needed Parker. Enjoy your day. Don't get hurt." 

He picked up the rest of his miscellaneous items from the floor and left the room with a new smile on his face.


End file.
